#and there are games in a lot of other genres that have dating sim elements (i.e. persona 3-5)

[specterthief]

i made a hopefully helpful infographic

[decafdoodlez]

Have you played any other Yandere dating sims? Like BTD/TPof but not those, if you haven’t I think you should check out some of these if you have time and want to ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ Broken Colors, John Doe, Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack, Mushroom Oasis and My dear hatchet man (honorable mention 14 days with you) I just think these are really cool games and they’re like btd/topf. there are tons more yandere dating sims I think are super cool too! ✨🥺✨

I’ve played a few, but not many!

When I was much younger about 10 years ago, I think the first dating sim I ever played was this indie otome called “Seduce Me” on steam. I’m not too certain if I remember there being yandere elements to it, but I thought it would be worth the mention, haha!

The one I’m for sure had yandere elements was the otome, Amnesia! One of the dateable candidates, Toma, locks you in a cage, and I think that ultimately made me change into the person I am today and shaped my taste in questionable men, sahjfkhfkasfkjlf. There was another bachelor in the game that stalked you too if I remember correctly, and I was drawn to him as well, haha.

But in all honesty, I’m still very new to yandere dating sims!! I only just dipped my toes into it with BTD/TPoF this past October! So I am still essentially a baby to the murdersim/horrorsim genre. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have played a bit of Lover’s Trophy, but that and BTD/TPoF has been the extent of my VN library so far! I have however heard of at least most of the games you listed, so I will HAVE to check them out soon to see what all the hype is about. 🤍✨ Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack has got me the most curious, but I will need to bookmark the rest you listed!

If I can add one more indie Yandere dating sim to your list, another one I want to try is Symptoms of Deceit! I’ve become recent mutuals with the creator and I have been meaning to check out their demo on itch.io, I can tell they put a lot of love into the game, story, and characters, and I would love to see them do well with it and succeed! 🤍✨

Please check it out if you can! :D 🤍 -> https://strawberrysquid0.itch.io/symptoms-of-deceit

Thank you so much for the recommendations! 🫶

[surely-galena]

Changing the Status Quo of ToT

[WC: 2.1K]

I've been thinking about where Tears of Themis has been heading lately.

ToT is a surprising blend of otome and detective/mystery game, and because of this, it can be difficult to create a balance that satisfies both halves. By focusing too much on the main story, the game risks losing out on sweet moments MC has with the love interests. But on the other side of the coin, by leaning too much into otome, the main story risks being buried or being dragged out longer than necessary.

Am I saying that ToT is failing to hit this balance? Not objectively, because my personal nitpicks with the game could be reasons why someone else might enjoy it.

But I am saying that with the way ToT is created, I cannot help but feel they are building up for something drastic to happen. Something that shifts the way we see the story forever, something so that the characters are never the same again.

Something that changes the status quo permanently.

To be fair, if the developers have planned for this, it's a good strategy. Something absolutely bonkers happening in the main story that upends almost everything would get people talking -- and word of mouth means more people playing the game. Certain examples of massive events like these off the top of my head are Amphibia's season 2 finale and the Hatoful Boyfriend secret route.

There is a certain thing that cannot happen in ToT, of course, and that is killing off one of the four love interests: Luke, Artem, Vyn, or Marius. Although it's not impossible (and would certainly be gutsy), I'd argue that the decision would be too risky.

We all know Luke has massive death flags, but given the nature of an otome game, permanently killing any one of them would risk backlash -- especially from the players who are attached to the now-dead character.

While this decision might work out for the detective/mystery genre, it clashes with the otome aspect. Unless it's a deliberately tragic game or is used in exploration of a greater theme (see: Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly), love interests are basically contractually obligated to not die unless it's a bad ending. And ToT doesn't do bad endings, because that's what the AU cards are for.

Ultimately, Tears of Themis is an otome with detective/mystery elements. This is how I see it, and I'm pretty sure this is also how the game is primarily marketed. So instead of something like Danganronpa which is basically mystery solving with a side of dating sim elements, ToT is otome first, mystery second.

Arguably, there have been some turning points that have indeed changed the status quo we saw in Main Story Episode 1!

MC joins the NXX (Main Story 5)

The lack of a final court case in Main Story 6, and the ensuing hollow victories in Main Stories 7 & 8

But these events feel like they're building up to something. At this point, I don't think we're heading for an ending that waves a hand and tells us everyone lived happily ever after, because that would feel cheap. We can have a happy ending, of course, but it has to feel earned. And in order for a happy ending to be satisfying, the characters have to fight for it, not have it handed to them on a plate.

So that got me thinking. What are examples of events that could cause a drastic shift in the game?

1) One of the main five is a traitor

A lot of the time, revealing a mole/double agent (reluctant conspirator or not) is interesting because it forces us to change our perception of a character. A side character who turns out to be a traitor is fine because we don't care about them. But for someone who is currently part of the NXX -- including MC -- to turn against the group? That's interesting. That's something that will change the group dynamic for a long time. (Exceptions for Neil and Giann because they're a) already suspect and b) it's likely the player doesn't care for them as much as the main cast, because their primary value lies in their connection to the main characters).

Of course, care would have to be taken here if the traitor isn't MC, because you don't want to risk alienating fans of a specific love interest. In this case, the traitor would most likely be redeemed by MC or have second doubts about his choice to betray the NXX. This means all roads lead to redemption, because it probably wouldn't be a good idea to end a well-liked love interest's arc negatively.

In the same way, an important side character turning traitor would be interesting, but not as impactful as the main five. It would be a massive plot twist, of course, but on the whole, it doesn't affect the status quo as much. Unless, of course...

2) One of the important side characters (i.e. someone with a face and is positively linked to one of the main five) turns out to be the big bad

For example: Kiki Bennet is actually behind the whole conspiracy, but hides behind the guise of a cute, internet-savvy attorney-in-training.

If the developers were to go this route, it would have to be done carefully, with some foreshadowing so that the twist doesn't appear out of nowhere. It wouldn't feel earned if details about a side character were simply retconned and tossed aside. Similarly to the first point, this would recontextualize a character, but in a massive enough way that would impact the entire NXX group. Here, I used Kiki as an example because it would be fairly easy to twist her into someone who is at the law firm to keep tabs on MC, and her internet connections could be used as a cover for a hub of secrets and information.

3) The introduction of a fifth, secret love interest

We've talked a little about this in the ToT discord server I'm in (shoutout to @lukepearcing and @roshie-writes here). And yes, the character we've decided is most likely to be the additional love interest is Jerome.

This would, essentially, create a sort of villain route for MC, where she gets her true enemies-to-lovers plotline. While this may not necessarily impact the main story greatly, it would drastically change the otome part of the game -- especially if it comes with UI changes to suit the addition of a new main character.

4) The world of Stellis is not as we know it

The inclusion of Zangr is arguably enough to build on this idea. Of course, Zangr could just be comic relief, or the standard fourth-wall-breaking character. But if Zangr was right all along, and that there is a (fictional) world outside of Stellis, or that there's some kind of multiverse out there, that would change things no matter whether we liked it or not.

(I sort of talk about this idea in referencing the 2022 ToT April Fools' poster.)

Is this a good twist? Honestly, it would be very difficult to pull off. Tropes like "it was all a dream" or "all of it was fake" are extremely hard to execute well. With the main conflict currently linked to the NXX drug, though, I don't see this as something that is likely to happen. I won't rule it out of the picture, but as of now, it's thematically pretty unlikely.

5) Time travel / MC is looping and she doesn't know it

Is this a trope that has been done heaps of times? Yeah.

But it would change the story -- and would allow for love interests to actually die (e.g. if someone uncovers the NXX and assassinates each one of them, resulting in MC looping back to a certain point in time). I don't really have much evidence to support this apart from the prologue, which implies MC has been through some horrible things, and the continual exploration of memory as a theme. (I elaborate a little on the memory theme in my Giann sprite theory.)

For some reason, I always find myself returning to that prologue. Maybe it's metaphorical and has been all along. But I cannot help but feel that in some way, it was meant to foreshadow something that still looms over our main cast.

6) The group dynamic changes in some way

This is perhaps not as impactful as some of the points above, but would still significantly shift things. I've spoken about the potential for an NXX schism in my post about Vyn, responsibility, and trust. The NXX breaking apart, either as individuals or into groups would definitely make for a change in the main story (and would probably not affect the otome aspect as the game will probably let MC be an intermediary and not pick a side).

Alternatively, adding people to the group would also dramatically change things. Some examples of new people could be Darius or Vincent, but the additions also be old members like Neil and (just maybe!) Giann.

The current NXX has been slowly growing together over the last couple of team events. Perhaps something could happen to slow this growth, or something could happen to accelerate it.

7) MC isn't who we think she is

This is very similar to the MC is a traitor point above, but in this particular idea, she doesn't have to be a traitor. This time I'm thinking of something more akin to the twist in Bee & Puppycat season 1, or something connected to her identity or parents. Maybe she isn't just an up-and-coming attorney who believes in hope and justice. Maybe there's something in her memories that she's blocked out and can't remember, or something that she's deliberately hiding from everyone else. If something like this is done, it would completely recontextualize MC, and it would be significant because she's the protagonist. If there's anyone we think we know, it's her.

8) Protagonist switch

That said, is MC/Rosa truly the main character? I mean, she kinda has to be -- she's the girl the main four guys are in love with.

But imagine, even if for a single episode, we play as Ingrid Rosworth, or any other character that isn't part of the main five. If the NXX conspiracy is bigger than we think it is, it could be interesting to step aside for a minute and peek into someone else's perspective. Baldr is kind of a joke at this point, but what if they weren't? This is somewhat connected to the idea of side characters becoming more important, and seeing them influence the plot could impact the direction that the NXX takes. Is this something that will dramatically impact the status quo? Probably not. Is it still an interesting idea? I like to think so :D

-

When trying to break down ToT, I think it's almost inevitable to separate the slice-of-life romance from the main mystery at hand. It's pretty much a given that most of the card stories and solo/couple events branch off after the first anniversary, and maybe even before that.

What this means is that the romance cards/events cannot actively impact the main story, and the main story cannot select a 'canon' love interest for MC or do something that will impact the romance timeline(s) too heavily. And hence, if we were to encounter a significant twist in the main plot, the romance aspect is unlikely to be affected too much. This is probably why a lot of dramatic events happen in the AU cards, because they sort of test the waters -- and allow the developers to see which ones the audience enjoys and which they don't, because the AUs do not directly influence the story.

Overall, that means that the type of plot twists that are likely to happen are limited. This does not, however, mean that the potential to be interesting is lessened, because there are still a number of ways the main story could go down. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hope the writers have a good ending in mind. Because there is a lot of potential in the threads that they have given us, and rather than continuing on for years with the general pattern of "culprit of the episode", I want to believe that the main, overarching plot they are promising is going to be satisfying, or at least carefully thought out.

There is so much potential here, and I wouldn't be rambling on this much otherwise. Even if the status quo never shifts drastically, I'd be happy with a good story. Maybe that's all I want from the main plot.

[lurkdragonstuff]

It is 2022, and there is time for Potion Permit.

Maybe not, like. A lot of time. But enough.

In this twist on the farming sim genre, you are a chemist (read: alchemist) from the capital of a vaguely steampunk country, sent to the remote island of Moonbury as an olive branch to the community. Many years ago, chemists wreaked havoc on the island's flora, and the bad blood still lingers.

As the new local chemist, you spend your days gathering ingredients from the local flora and fauna for your potions so you can treat the townsfolk when they fall ill. The townspeople are pretty standard vaguely-steampunk folks, though out in the boonies and so more reliant on traditional trades than it's implied the big city folk are. Like any good farming sim, there's a dating sim element, too: some of the townsfolk are romancable.

It's all very cozy and reminiscent of the early days of a Stardew Valley game, where gathering wild resources provides a supplement to your farm as you get your feet under you.

Except...

Well, that really is all the game is built around. To explain, it's a very shallow experience compared to your Stardew Valley or your Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons. In particular, it really suffers from the lack of any real in-game calendar.

One of the big draws of these kinds of games - farming sims and close relatives - is the wish fulfillment of getting out into nature and feeling its rhythms. And on the nuts-and-bolts gameplay side of things, these kinds of games rely on the feeling of time passing and natural cycles to break up the monotony of the gameplay loop. For example: sure you might still be farming the same nine squares you tilled in spring, but it's autumn now and the harvest festival is around the corner, and after that will be winter so if you don't have a greenhouse you'd better be ready for mining.

Potion Permit does have an in-game week and the characters have schedules based on it, but there's no real sense of time passing. It doesn't have to be a four-seasons temperate climate or anything (the development team is the Indonesian MassHive Media, so a wet/dry season system would've been pretty cool) but without it, the game becomes an unending samey drone after a while. There are no festivals or birthdays to look forward to. Potion ingredients don't cycle. Hell, diseases don't cycle: characters just come down with random ailments that usually don't have anything to do with each other.

As for the townsfolk themselves, eh, they're fine. There were, I think, a few baffling decisions about who's romancable and who isn't (whyyyy is the farmer not romancable, his mother is even trying to get him hooked up with somebody), and I sense some amount of 'swing and a miss' with their handling of sensitive topics and mental health concerns. Still, it's a small indie team, and for me at least I can forgive it as a sincere effort with some rough edges.

That said, the relationship system is pared down compared to other games in the genre. No one has any favourites: everyone gets the same gift of the local tea, which you earn for treating patients and for completing relationship quests. The romances never advance past dating, either. And the event flags for the main quest and for relationships are completely decoupled: I dated my former rival and got his relationship to that point before doing a few endgame things, and this wasn't acknowledged At All. It does let you romance whoever you want regardless of gender, at least, and perhaps because of the shallow system you can date multiple characters without issue.

Speaking of the endgame, the game just kind of... peters out, storywise. Oh, there's a party when you Become The Local Hero, but it doesn't take any ingame time and you don't even rest after it. There isn't even a credits roll. You're just booted out of the party cutscene to outside of the tavern with the same ingame time as when you started.

For all my misgivings, though, I enjoyed most of my time with Potion Permit. I don't think I'll be buying it (I borrowed it from the library for my Switch), but it occupied the time and felt nice while it lasted. Not really recommended, but not really not recommended, either.

[lolotheparagon]

🔥 Hottest and ugliest/most bland MC and LI. Also favorite and least favorite otome game artwork.

Hottest MC

This is difficult cos the majority of MCs in Otome games who are adult women are so infantilised and spineless that it feels ewwy to find them attractive. One thing I hate is women being infantilised, cos it’s an actual trigger for me.

Either Seraphina from Peachleaf Valley or Teuta from Bustafellow since they are and act like actual adults, despite the weird artistic elements anime usually gives them. They’re funny, witty, sweet but know when to put their foot down and have a lot more agency than your usual garbage dating sim protagonist.

I would also say Kotone cos she is both a successful cafe owner and landlord but the way the story treats her and how the men are towards her, she honestly deserves a better game (with LIs who aren’t pedos or old enough to be her dad). She’s a wonderful character but I find her more cute than attractive.

I love Lynette though. Her design is so pretty and I love the more flashy 80s glam businesswoman look to her. She would fit right in with Jem and the Holograms. But again, she deserves a better game and a personality upgrade cos FOR FUCKS SAKE WHY IS THE MATCHMAKING GODDESS OF LOVE A CLUELESS INGENUE. SHE’S CUPID SHE SHOULD BE ABLE TO READ MEN LIKE A 4 PAGE PICTURE BOOK

Blandest MC

This is like counting every grain of sand on a beach, cos of the genre we’re in. THERE’S SO FUCKING MANY.

My top 3 would be:

The MC from Amnesia Memories, who I’m gonna call Maria, is the biggest offender. While Cardia and Ichika have some quirks, Maria has FUCKING NOTHING. Half of her thought processes and inner dialogue are taken up by a flying pixie in her head so we never get any idea of what Maria’s personality is like. And because this game uses her amnesia as an excuse to not give her any personality or agency from that matter

Cardia from Code Realise. What a WASTE

And Ichika from Collar x Malice.

Basically any Otomate protagonist can apply here, cos they’re all cut from the same bland UwU ingenue cloth and I’m SICK of Otome fans seeing every new protagonist and going “omg she’s such a sassy girlboss” when all she does is say no to a pervert’s advances. Like, that’s not sass, that’s basic self-defense.

Hottest LI

Mozu, hands down. Love how genuinely supportive and sweet he is. His design isn’t all that special but his personality really shines through. He’s delightfully morbid, which makes sense considering he’s a coroner. He spouts random scientific facts and statements about everything he sees like Sheldon Cooper and even in other routes, he considers Teuta his friend and always treats her with respect. He’s such a good man and I love how even his trauma regarding his sister’s death doesn’t affect his relationship with Teuta. Teuta does feel like a comforting angel in that game but after seeing the roles being reversed in Bustafellows 2, it’s great to see Mozu be the one comforting Teuta with her problems. Also the fact that Mozu is currently seeing a therapist to deal with his trauma so he can be a better boyfriend to Teuta is so 🥹

The only things I didn’t like about him was a moment where he awkwardly kabedons Teuta when he was depressed thinking about the investigation of his sister’s possible death and wanted to flirt with Teuta in the only way he knew how to take his mind of things. That was…weird. It felt like that scene was only there just so Kohaku can draw a kabedon scene. To be fair, Mozu is not well versed in romantic language at all and is very autism-coded so I give him some slack as the scene comes off as someone who clearly didn’t know how to process his emotions properly. Once Teuta explains that’s not cool, he immediately backs off, apologises and promises to ask next time.

Also he slapped Teuta when she was feeling out about a fire in the school and a little girl is trapped in there. I know it was meant to be a “pull yourself together” slap and I’ve seen this trope in a bunch of shows, not just anime. But it’s still weird.

Worst LI

Takeru Sasazuka. I used to love this guy when I first got this game and good Lord I regret it. He’s supposed to be this tsundere who slowly defrosts and becomes nicer to Ichika, but considering how much he insults her and calls her a dog as a “joke”, but it’s okay he hugs her when she’s about to fall into a mental breakdown or cries in a moment of distress, so he really does love her and I’m like fuck off.

He only softens up when the sequel came out where there was only slice of life stories and nothing serious was on the horizon, like a terrorist threat from the last game. He is interesting as a character: he has a hatred of guns since his mother was shot in front of him when he was a kid and only became a cop in order to gain enough power to reinstate a gun safety law since every individual in Shinjuku atm has enough guns that’ll make a Republican blush. Also he has very little family or friends and deep down truly wants to have people in his life, despite his prickly exterior. There is a lot of potential for a defrosting ice king character like him. But being deliberately unlikable is still unlikable.

This really goes to show how 80 of Otomate’s men work better as standard characters, rather than love interests to the MC.

I can’t believe I fancied him when I was younger, although that might be due to Daisuke Namikawa voicing him.

Also Shin and Toma from Amnesia Memories. These two are the childhood friends of Maria and they have a bit of a rivalry cos they both have feelings for her, but depending on either route, Maria’s relationship with them changes (like if you chose Shin, Maria would consider Toma like a friend and vice versa)

However, do they act normal to Maria? HELL FUCKING NAH! I remember choosing Shin when I first played this game cos I thought he was the most normal of the LIs, he had a tragic past with his father being in prison for murder and everyone considers him guilty by association, his only true friends were Maria and Toma and he tersely motivated Maria to become a better singer. But ALL THAT GOODWILL JUST PISSED AWAY cos Not only was he being needlessly secretive towards Maria after her amnesia (cos the game wants to be a mystery and the story constantly trying to red herring you with possibilities that it was him who caused Maria’s amnesia when it really wasn’t), and his design and personality just REEKS of good girls dating the emotionally abusive bad boy trope like it’s the fucking 50s. Also the amount of forceful kissing this guy did was just yuck. 🤮

But that is small potatoes compared to Toma. He is a yandere character taken to a disturbing degree. He starts off friendly and cheerful, then when Maria is stalked by someone, he offers her to stay at his home for a while. I think we all know where this is going. After using Maria’s amnesia to his advantage by lying to her and everyone about their relationship, he quickly stops Maria from seeing her friends, attending uni or her job, drugs her food, takes away her cellphone to cut her off from everyone. And perhaps the most infamously evil thing he’s done is lock the woman up in a “kawaii uguu cage of love” and only lets her out to use the toilet and threatens to rape her if she dared get out of her cage or leave without telling her. And the only punishment he ever gets is Shin punching him once or in Shin’s route, Toma brings himself in to be arrested cos he can’t handle Maria’s rejection. THERES EVEN AN ENDING WHERE MARIA STRAIGHT UP FORGIVES HER. WHAT THE PISS-SHITTING FUCK?!

Toma is a vile, pathetic piece of shit and the fact that he is the most popular character in the game and his serial killer behaviour is memed by Otomate as if it’s a cute quirk is fucking disgusting. I found out online that there is a CAFE based on this game and you can order a dessert that is a direct reference to that infamous cage scene. That is how much attention this character has. And yet most people in the Otome community think he’s crazy but in a lol so crazy kinda way XD but Toma’s behaviour is so callous so frequently and to such a triggering degree, its no laughing matter. I swear, the people who like Toma (even in an ironic sense) are probably Reylo/Catradora stans.

Fave Otome artwork:

Definitely Kohaku Sumeragi’s work on Bustafellows. She makes the typical anime style look so expressive and lively. She’s not afraid to make her characters look silly, albeit to some restrictions cos we need our characters to still look pretty. Also the amount of detail in each character’s outfit without it looking too detailed is brilliant. Although she definitely needs to work on giving the women more prominent noses and stop giving characters like Teuta the baby doll eyes and bulk up Luka a bit. I want my muscular women

Worst Otome artwork

Suoh’s artwork is so fucking shit. Jesus Christ. does she draw all her characters so young, it’s fucking gross! For example, this is the MC, Shino in one of the games Suoh worked on, Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani. Shino’s age isn’t listed but she’s supposed to be a young adult. Also her character designs in general are so

DOES SHE EVEN REMOTELY LOOK LIKE AN ADULT?!

Worst off, there’s no lighting, barely any shading. Her expressions are extremely limited. Her colours are flat and lifeless. They look like literal cardboard cutouts. I don’t like to harp on the artwork too much cos I’m an artist myself but I have no idea why this woman is still getting work if this is her best work to date.

So, yeah. I hope I’ve answered all your questions, Yuisdad!

[sluggirltoast]

3, 4, 33, 35, 54

i am curious to know the answers,,,

3; Do you like to get 100% achievements? ah it really depends~ in most games i don't care about that, especially if there's hundreds of achievements... but if i notice i have most of them anyway just from playing normally then i might look at what the others are and try to get those on purpose too

4; Game coming out that you’re looking forward to? farming simulator 25 and N1RV Ann-A (VA11 Hall-A sequel) are the biggest ones i think... more so nirvanna than fs25 but that doesn't have a date yet so eh... oh am also interested in how civ 7 turns out and the future of helldivers 2

33; Someone has never played a video game before but is open to trying any genre. What game would you recommend as their first? turn-based stratagy! there's still alotta variety in that genre for them to pick one game they like the look of and they will have plenty of time to think of what they wanna do for this turn and process the information on screen ^w^ (plus it's my- oh that's the next question nevermind)

35; What's your favourite genre of game? turn-based strategy! stuff such as civ 5 (an old fav) phoneix point, humankind... tryna think of more... aaaaaaaa idk if there are more i've played but eh- anyway- ye :3 also a big fan of simulation stuff like with elite dangerous (well, before odyssey...), farming sim as mentioned above (i've played 13, 15, 17, 19, 22 & plan to get 25), euro truck sim 2, uboat, construction sim, car mechanic sim, microsoft flight sim, foxhole, workers & resources soviet republic... um um... i really could go on... oh and i guess i mostly like those last 2 more for the management elements, they aren't the same vein of simulator as the other examples but still ^w^

54; Favourite game developers? aaaaa i don't really pay attention to names alot when it comes to this, plus any which i would've said in the past i no longer agree with... maybe.. maybeee... SCS software? they have a long history of working on euro truck sim 2 and american truck sim, working on both side-by-side now, been updating them for so many years with fairly cheap dlc's too and lots of high sales & they're very in touch with what the community wants n stuff... even if there's other games i like more i really like how they do things and more devs like that would only be a good thing

[stierhai]

Thoughts on: The One Within the Villainess

Manga: The One Within the Villainess

Amount read: Up to chapter 12

Impression: Middling positive.

On genre:

I'm not an Isekai person. I don't find wish fulfillment to be compelling in media. I don't care about game mechanics. I don't like characters going into the narrative with all the answers already and just needing to wait to put them into effect. Isekai may run the gamut of tones, with there being as much seinen edgelord bullshit as there is cute reincarnator sidesteps the plot of the in-fiction original work, so I won't say there's never conflict in isekai but... none of that does anything for me. With rare exceptions, the conflict almost always feels extremely shallow to me even when the stakes are high.

This is because they don't typically feel like they're about the characters, so much as they feel like lore infodumps and following a road map. Then top that off with a main character that has either a narratively convenient power that typically is powerful enough to overcome all conflict by default whilst requiring a lot of info-dumping— or the power is skipped in favor of short-cutting straight to the power being a lore and plot dump... they feel less like stories in and of themselves and more like reading a tabletop corebook. Lore is, in my mind, meant to be the stage upon which we tell stories, not the story itself— and I just don't think the stage can stand all its own and pretend to be a competent story.

And that is even assuming the stage was competent to begin with. A lot of Isekai also are very tropey and reference not just the broad strokes of other fantasy settings writ large but other isekai.

And there is no place this is more exemplary than the Villainess subgenre of isekai works.

They've all got this same basic framework: girl dies somehow and wakes up in an otome game she either played or knew about in her old life! However, she isn't the protagonist of the otome game, she's the villainess: an odious character who existed just to obstruct the heroine's chosen route in the game!

But here's the thing. I play otome games. I'm maybe not an expert, but I do have a casual acquaintanceship with the genre. The villainess rival plot that's endemic to this whole-ass genre? It stems from one of the earliest otome games ever, Angelique. However: it's not a trope that actually stuck around in otome games. To the point that Angelique's own sequels and spin-offs also didn't have the villainess rival. Similarly, the idea of the grindy items or whatever-- most modern otome games are not "dating sims", they're visual novels. You can think of them as choose your own adventure books, way more than a grindy dating sim where you have to raise stats, repeatedly talk to the dating options in certain areas on certain days, or give them items. The last set of actual popular otome games that had those elements is probably the [Heart/Spade/Diamond/etc] no Kuni no Alice series, I'm pretty sure? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. But either way, I can say pretty confidently that Persona 5 is more of a dating sim than most otome games.

The fact is, these manga and light novels are all cribbing notes off each other, not otome games. So I have a grudge against them for that, first and foremost. It's like, okay you're talking shit about the problems and how terrible it is for the villainess to have to suffer just because she also liked the guy and her life is ALSO BAD and it's like. This is just not a thing. These works exist as critiques of a phenomenon that just isn't widespread and barely exists at all. You are all still just mad at Angelique-- or rather, because they don't know their "source material" at all, they're just empty shells of someone else's subversion of an extremely old game. And the subversion of ACTUALLY THE VILLAINESS IS FINE is also eroded even further by the fact a lot of them just decide to have the plot be actually the heroine is the real bad guy. Look at that hussy, chatting up these dudes above her station and stealing someone else's fiance. The issue isn't that the original plot of the game set up these girls as having their own happiness achievable only as mutually exclusive, implying women are all enemies competing for men, the real issue with the initial story is... genki girl bad, elegant girl good. I'm hating on a few specific manga here, but I'm sure there's more than that out there that have pulled that particular twist.

They have nothing to say. But when the framework of the story is we're going to fix the shit that went wrong in the original... it reads like they're trying to be commentary on the original genre. Which just falls so, so flat. Thanks for the commentary on a thing that isn't even a problem with the genre and also your commentary sucked.

So, enough generalities. Onto The One Within the Villainess.

The Plot:

The basic rundown: The villainess, Remilia, was replaced out as a child by Emi, a Japanese girl who was familar with the game Remilia is from. Emi did all the usual villainess isekai protagonist things-- rescued the male love interests from problems in their lives and came to occupy the same space as the protagnist did within the original game's story. Remilia, from within Emi, watched this and was satisfied because she had lived a loveless life with terrible parents but with Emi's memories of her own family in Japan and the second-hand experience of Emi's new life, she was able to finally experience happiness and became protective of Emi.

However, a fellow isekai'd girl has taken over the role of the game's protagonist. Pissed off that the villainess has changed the plot, she plots Remilia/Emi's downfall. Emi suffers the same fate as the villainess in the game, and retreats within herself. Remilia, back in control of her own body, swears vengeance and to make herself happy to fulfill Emi's wishes for her. To these ends, she does some bog-standard villainess things. She takes control of the land she's exiled to, begins doing damage control to her reputation, saves some poor people who were neglected by fate in the "original" timeline, teams up with a demon lord, and kills god.

I won't say the plot is anything special. A lot of the plot points I have read beat for beat in other manga. It also has the issue of not being very familiar with otome games— aside from my usual otome games almost never have a villainess issue, the whole subplot about the shop shows that the writer is thinking of the mechanics of a mobile game. And granted, I've never played a mobile game otoge, maybe they really are like that. But with the genre as a whole taking cues from a very old otome game, it is weird to see the very modern cash shop mechanics thrown in there. It feels like indiscriminate cribbing off the notes of other isekai that just accidentally took something from the wrong source material-- that any one isekai is as good as any other to crib from, overlooking the thing that's supposed to make the subgenre distinct. Which makes sense-- if you don't play otoge, you wouldn't know what the mechanics were like so you probably wouldn't see an issue with a cash shop existing as a plot point and as a major part of a subplot.

Thus far, this review has mostly been negative. But that's because I've focused on what it has in common with most other villainess isekai— a genre I started with saying I don't like. So, next: what sets it apart and what it does well within its trappings.

The Art:

The art fucks /pos.

Manga is a visual medium, and having good art isn't a must persay, but it does a lot to influence audience perception of characters, setting a mood, and just the overall enjoyment of a series. Characters in this manga make great fucking faces. The otoge heroine just runs around making the shittiest faces, the clearest faux-cutesy but complete scumbag expressions ever. They're great. Emi and Remilia technically have the same face but they're very well distinguished by light shines and make-up, sure, but also the kind of expressions they make— Remilia playing at Emi is also distinguishable from what we saw of Emi. Things are telegraphed really well-- you can see the people around Emi being affected by the heroine because they also begin making shitty smug faces (though not to the same degree).

Also, about selling a mood: killing God isn't an exceptional plot point in a JP fantasy series. It's every JRPG I played growing up, it's my beloved Angel Sanctuary, etc. So how do you sell the audience on the gravity of killing this God that was only recently introduced? Radical art style shift from villainess isekai to surreal high contrast Madoka witch labyrinth was the answer this manga landed upon and damn if I can't say it doesn't work. That sequence was great. Excellent choice by the artist.

The character designs are also pretty good. Remilia and Pino Blanchet definitely pass for the villainess and heroine isekai tropes. The demon shopkeep also looks like a minor NPC that for some reason has been taken out of a minor role and been given a more major one, whilst also making sense with the larger world set-up as we get that. The demon king looks like a boy you might romance on an otome route. The gods have weird inhuman forms. The dwarf girls both look like dwarves, in a western fantasy sense whilst still fitting into an otome game! I'm not sure any of them really stand out to me as like damn good job, but I think as a whole they do help get across the setting-- both as a fantasy in its own right outside the "game's plot", and as an isekai into an "otome game".

Emi and Remilia:

Okay. Listen. Listen. I grew up in YGO fandom, alright? Bodyshare romance is peak. And I've got a thing for unrequited love, tragic loves, dead girl haunts the narrative she can no longer directly touch but everyone around her is still impacted by the hole she left. And, to clarify, that isn't what this manga is— I do not think this was written with the intention of being read as hot girl doppleganger ghost romance— but it's got the vibes. That even if that is not the intended reading of the text, it has an appeal that people into that could appreciate.

So, Emi is not textually dead, aside from the whole reincarnation thing. But she is functionally a ghost in the story. After she fell into despair, she retreated within herself and Remilia retook control. In-character, Remilia believes that Emi is as she was— alive, and now merely watching from behind the scenes. With this belief, she seeks to make Emi's ideal world so she can emerge and live happily again, just as she did before. There is no sign of Emi stirring, but Remilia is motivated by her memories and ideals, by what she gave her and honoring her memory. The Remilia the audience knows is a person changed, but not by someone who is in the story any longer. In this way, Emi "reads" as a ghost, haunting the narrative through her effect on Remilia. Dead girlfriend vibes, is what I'm saying.

There's also something to be said for the dynamic necessitated by the bodyshare where despite being deeply invested in the other's happiness, they do and do not have any personal relationship at all. They both know intimately and have never met the other person— we see Emi playing Remilia's game and crying over her; we see Remilia watching Emi living her life on a flat-screen television window in their mindscape. Without direct interaction, they nontheless are invested in each other, their highs and lows, their success and happiness. They're the other's biggest fan, but not in the sense that we usually think of in the modern era when someone says Parasocial. They are aware of each other, and both is individually important to the other. Whilst the situation is fantastical, it comes out feeling like an early internet friendship with both girls lurking on the other's blog, more than it feels like the relationship between stan and oshi.

On Female Characters:

So, this manga is guilty of the whole villainess isekai trend of actually the game heroine is the bad one! twist.

I forgive it.

The most important relationship in the manga, the fulcrum upon which the whole manga's storyline sits, is the one between Emi and Remilia. They're both full characters in their own rights, even though Emi exists only in flashback. Meanwhile, of the major side characters the ratio of male to female characters actually favors women. There's two men, whilst all the other major side-characters with personalities are women. So, Pino being shitty is just like, oh okay she's just a shitty person, not that this author has kind of an unfortunate attitude about women. Also, Pino's character flaws of being incredibly selfish and focused on romantic feelings without caring about the target of her affections as a person-- it rather neatly echoes the evil god featured in the manga as well. The two of them echo each other, so considering we see the exact same flaws in evil incel god and the main female antagonist... Yeah, I don't see the way Pino is written as a problem here.

The Demon King:

So, speaking of side-characters. The Demon King Angel is supposed to have been a secret route from within the game. And while I think this manga gets a lot of shit wrong about otome games I will say this for it: Angel absolutely feels like a true/secret route character. Gorgeous character design, genuinely tragic backstory with a good reason for him to have been an absolute bastard within the story. . . nailed it. Good job. A++. More than anyone else here, I actually buy him as an otoge character.

It's a little bit unfortunate for him that Remilia is only interested in Emi and making Emi's ideals a reality! That just makes him feel like he's properly executed even moreso though, and really drives home that this manga is about the relationship between Emi and Remilia more than any thing else though.

post also available on dreamwidth

[miikarin]

time to get cozy with this game

I have been playing Moonstone Island primarily offline as a nice casual cozy game and it is certainly delivering that to me. The story goes that you are a budding alchemist who has to do a year-long trial away from home so that you can pass and become a full alchemist. So you set off on your journey and then crash into an island: Moonstone Island, in fact.

There you get to meet people and perform a lot of the life-farm sim aspects of growing crops, building up a home, crafting better tools, getting to know your neighbours, etc.

However, this island is actually at the center of a whole slew of islands each with their own types of biomes, and more importantly, wildlife, including spirits. Creature collection/battling of spirits is the second gameplay genre to add to the life-farm sim aspect and there are some quite cute spirits. However, the battles work slightly different than the pokemon line of games in that you battle with decks of moves - so yes, add deckbuilding to that list of gameplay elements. And there you have Moonstone Island.

There are a lot of parts to this game and initially it may feel like a lot to keep track of but I think it rewards slowing down and just focusing on a few things at a time, especially when your stamina is limited. I don't think I really need to include this statement but it is something I needed to remind myself of, as someone who has spent a lot of time playing adventure or puzzle games with very specific goals for the last little while - it's been a few years since I had my big Stardew moment.

As for the battling part, I do not play a lot of deckbuilders but I found this fairly straightforward. There is definitely some optimizing I can do with my decks (especially getting out of hoarding/card collecting mindset) but it still works. Battle is not overly tough and there are spirit types (like water, earth, fire, etc.) that help you but more importantly, losing doesn't come with a heavy penalty. It makes you faint, so yes, you lose the rest of the day (and whoops if you had a date, well, there goes that) but you don't lose items and there's no other real effects. So in some ways, just battling more is a great way to learn boundaries and what you can do.

However, as with anything that tries to put in a lot of different parts together, there are some things I feel could be improved upon but the devs are definitely listening to player feedback and making tweaks. As someone who primarily came for the cozy life-sim game, I'd say this met my expectations. Not sure how someone who is more into the creature-collection or the deckbuilding aspects would feel about those areas.

I have put in around 40 hours into it so far and have made it through a year in game and I have been enjoying it so much that I want to spend more time in it. There are still spirits to find and tame, I need to expand my house and greenhouse and spirit barn. There still are so many plot threads that I want to resolve. I have gone on dates with the island folk (who are all delightful by the way) but unsure of who I want to romance. In short, I want to hop right back in. But I thought someone here might enjoy learning about this delightful cozy game.

[phagodyke]

usually if I see posts I disagree with I just scroll past but this saddens me... first up there's tons of story based games out there that don't suck! you're just not looking hard enough for them. no one's making u play roguelites. secondly they're not "gobbling up" the indie game scene at all?? there are SOME popular rogues (like sure, everyone knows hades which I would argue is actually not a great representation of the genre anyway!) but there are SO MANY indie games out here on planet earth + rogues don't take up a disproportionate percentage of them at all. you either have a poor gauge of the gaming industry or haven't explored outside of your bubble enough. THIRDLY disregarding that a lot of rogues do have decent story for a sec - even if they didn't, the main feature of a roguelite is the gameplay!! I'm so tired of ppl having a go at rogues for not being story rich enough. GO PLAY AN RPG. GO PLAY A VISUAL NOVEL. YOU ARE IN THE WRONG GENRE. its like someone playing a dating sim + being like ugh its just reading and picking dialogue options when do I get to fight something 🙄 people who actually enjoy playing roguelites/likes (hi!) appreciate the permadeath/endless replayability + navigating random/unpredictable environments + the level of difficulty. they find that mentally stimulating. if you DON'T then you are playing the wrong type of game!! I promise there are other games out there that will interest you more!! if its specifically the procedural generation/permadeath that bugs you but you enjoy other elements in that genre then I would suggest getting into metroidvanias/souls-likes which have fixed maps + more exploration/story focus, popular examples being the souls games, hollow knight, ori series, blasphemous etc. also implying rogues have less value for not being "handcrafted" is such an odd thing to say... procedurally generated maps might not have been individually designed but there are often immensely complex algorithms behind map generation, its not simply whacking together some random rooms, and someone had to write that code + design all the individual sections to feed into it in the first place...? I think thats an unfair comment to make 🤷‍♀️

[generalgiverballoon]

15 Up-and-coming Sims 5 For Android Bloggers You Need To Watch

The Sims 5 Teaser Could Include Online and Single Player Elements

You've likely seen the previews and teasers of Sims 5, whether you're an old Sims player or new to the game. With this new game, the developers have returned to the basic gameplay of the series, and this one is sure to take a new approach to gameplay. It's in the beginning stages of development, but there is a chance the game will include multiplayer and single player components.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Vet-aDJ7zDU/hqdefault_592733.jpg

Game is still in early mobile sims 5 development

Maxis has just recently announced the next The Sims game despite all the speculation and hype around it. Maxis is still actively seeking input from the community to help in the development of the game. They also hope to open up the game to a select group of community members.

Maxis hasn't officially announced when the next game will be released, but they have stated that it will be a free-to-play game. The Sims 4 is already free-to-play on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The studio has also revealed plans to make new packs kits, updates and packs for the game.

Maxis added that the next Sims game will provide more choices for players, as well as cooperative play. They will be focusing on the details that made the Sims successful as well as expanding the possibility of personalization. The Sims 5 could feature a larger world, asymmetrical layouts of rooms, and full neighbourhood customisation.

Maxis also revealed that the next Sims game codenamed Project Rene, will feature the "new system" that will allow players to build in a "collaborative" style. This will allow players to collaborate in rooms and collaborate on items. The game will also include "online features", which allow users to play with their peers in their creations.

Lyndsay Pearson, Maxis' creative director said that she feels "privileged" to take on the Sims franchise into the next 10 years. She said that the goal of the company was to provide "more flexibility" in its creative tools and also to take advantage of the feedback from the community to improve the game.

Maxis added that they will release further updates to the game in the coming years. It will also be releasing kits for the game, which will assist fans to get started on building.

It could be a single-player, or multiplayer elements.

Although Sims 3 will be a single-player experience it is highly likely that it will incorporate multiplayer elements. Andrew Wilson, the CEO of Electronic Arts, suggested recently that the next game in this series could feature elements from The Sims Online.

Fans of the series were amazed by Wilson's remarks. In actual fact, a lot of speculation has risen about what the forthcoming Sims game might include. This includes an online multiplayer mode, the ability to create and share virtual objects with other players, and an actual battle royale game model.

Wilson also discussed the development and growth of the Sims franchise. He explained that the Sims franchise first came into existence in the year 1991 following a blaze in Oakland, California. Will Wright the creator of the game, used the firestorm to inspire him to build his home.

The Sims series has become a staple in the simulation game industry, and it's been one of the most popular titles in a number of genres. The Sims are renowned for their originality and self-driven relaxation. Many of the games in the series offer open-world exploration as well as the ability to curate unique lives. The most recent Sims game will include new features like romantic dates and hanging out with friends and even swimming pools.

The Sims 5 will also likely feature new social features, such as getting to know new people, socializing with friends, and finding partners. Based on recent changes by EA there has been speculation from fans about the possible features for Sims 5.

Sims 5 could include a marketplace for creators, where users could sell virtual items and cosmetics. This could mean a new period of Sims content.

It embraces different cultures in its base version

Despite the numerous spinoffs Spinoffs, and spinoffs (so much fyi), The Sims franchise remains a viable business for large corporations. A dedicated studio can offer your virtual entertainment for tens or millions of dollars. There's also discounts on the newest Xbox One and PS4 consoles from Microsoft and Sony. As such, you can bet your bottom dollar that this new version will be around for a while. What are you putting off? Let's all hope that you don't wait for the brand new Sims etiquette to be rattling around the showroom floor. And who knows what new Sims spinoffs may bring to the table.

There are a lot of tidbits to be learned, but virtual reality isn't a warm place. You'll need to abandon the sims-only game and adopt a more collaborative approach to the next generation of gamers.

It is full of secrets

If you're brand new to the franchise or are a veteran, you'll be amazed by the amount of content and activities available. It's also full of secrets. There are many secrets to be discovered, no matter the small or big one, or one that's worth keeping in mind.

The Sims franchise has always featured supernatural creatures, but the latest edition features the most bizarre ones that you can imagine. It also introduces mind control and alien plants. These can be used with the most recent tech to help you defeat The Mother. You may even be able to test new vaccines on the possessed Sims.

Although there are many activities in the Sims franchise, it is not clear how to officially recognize them. One good example is The Sims 3: World Adventures, which was a fantastic holiday expansion. To master these new abilities you'll need patience.

There are also a number of new venues available in the game. For instance, there's a new "scrap-built" venue known as Grimtooth Bar. The brand new Sylvan Glade is also available. It's a beautiful green oasis that is located in the middle of town. If you have planned a Spa Day, you can travel there via teleportation.

A "secret" bunker is located in the back of the town. It's a long-standing local haven. It has a large metal door that can only be opened by a keycard. It also has a wall section made of barbed wire.

It's easy to see why the Sims franchise is famous for its wackiness. There are a lot of hidden gems worth exploring, so make sure to go through them all.

It's a true game

Electronic Arts announced earlier this year that they will be launching a new competition show called Spark'd for The Sims. It's called Spark'd and will be hosted by Rayvon Owen who is an American Idol finalist. In order to compete contestants will design their own character from The Sims and compete against a panel of judges for a chance to win a prize of $100,000.

Simmers, or people who play the Sims game, have become an enormous online community since the game launched in 2014. They often share Let's Play videos of their Sims and they also post viral challenges. Some of these challenges have become popular like the 100 baby challenge, in which contestants must have births to 100 babies in the shortest amount of generations.

The Sims isn't your typical first-person game, but it does offer an entirely new experience by allowing you to walk through the city and control it. The team also revealed that The Sims will be available on both mobile devices and the cloud.

Sims 4 will also have an augmented reality component. This means you'll have the ability to take pictures and share them with friends. There's also an option for VR, which is designed to make you feel like you're playing the game.

The Sims Spark'd will be a reality TV contest that will take place within The Sims 4. The four-episode program will air on TBS. It will feature 12 "The Sims" players who will compete for a prize of a lifetime. Every contestant will be given the opportunity to tell the story to a panel made up of famous people.

Sims was not broadcasting games to viewers in the past, but it is possible that the show will alter that. The Sims is an game with a variety of elements that are ideal for a reality show format.

[transcendersmedia]

Making Relation Games

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the games we make, and what kind of games we want to make. When we started the new company this autumn, we also did a lot of business planning, working on the brand and so forth. Doing that kind of work is something I really enjoy, since it puts a frame around what we do, and makes everything more clear.

When it comes to our games, we plan ahead a lot. That means that as one game is in production, we’ll plan what the next game will be, and also have some ideas about the project coming after that. When choosing what to work on next, we always have a lot of ideas for projects to choose from (and the planning will always change, but that’s to be expected). The selection criteria for a new project looks something like this:

Does this project fit within the Transcenders Media frame: do the themes and mechanics line up with the kind of games we intend to make?

Will this project build on something we’ve previously done, design- or technology-wise?

Will this project steer us in a direction we want to go and help us become the company we want to be?

This way of thinking has also made it easier to see a recurring pattern in the game ideas that make us the most excited, the ones we tend to give a green light: They are almost exclusively centered around relationships. And that has led me to believe that (at least for the time being) Transcenders Media make games about relationships, and that’s about it!

Why make games about relationships?

Now, this is a huge question. Why do we do the things we do, really? As artists, there are most often some themes that are extra interesting to us, that we will always come back to, and explore over and over from different angles and aspects. For me, people and relationships have always been that kind of topic, something I can see even going back to my childhood and the stories I used to draw and write back then (and yes, I was pretty melodramatic as a child, too. This is from when I was seven years old).

The same themes occur also in the novels I’ve written: they’re about how to relate to yourself and others, how to connect and receive what you need. So the topics are kind of given, but different media forms offer very different opportunities on how to go about exploring the subject matters. And that’s where I think games are specifically interesting, since the player will be the one deciding on what to do in the game: it’s in their hands to decide how to use the device we have given them. They will explore the game world and, in this case, the possible relationships they can have in the game, from their point of view and experiences. Which means that, apart from regular gameplay mechanics, elements such as player psychology, projection and preferences will come into play, and I think the relationship between the player and its avatar becomes extra interesting in this case.

Relation Games

In the kind of games we make, the main point of the game is to relate to the characters in the game world and affect the relationships you have with them. This objective could be woven together with other gameplay objectives, or it could be the only objective the player has. 

There are specific genres of games that most commonly revolve around relationships, such as dating sims, visual novels and some role playing games. I haven’t found a good overall term for relationship centered games in game design literature of any kind (please let me know if you’ve seen any). But as I need a term for it I will call them relation games going forward.

I had quite a hard time choosing between relation games and relation sims, so I asked ChatGPT to argue for which one was the better option. I got the below response, which I do think makes sense. But when thinking about it, I chose to use the broader term relation games, because I want to encompass games from different genres and with different gameplay elements, and I felt that using the term sim would be too narrow.

And that’s it for now! I’ll write more about relation games and the inspirations, tools and technologies for making them further on. Also, feel free to let me know what you think about this topic!

[eriisaam]

Ohman my mind's blanking a bit trying to recall a lot of them but uuh...

I do highly recommend Our Life, where the first game Beginnings & Always pretty much wrapped up development recently-ish in all chapters and expansions/DLC, while GB Patch is currently in active development of its sequel Now & Forever. (They even have a tumblr blog gbpatchupdates where you can follow active development of their games (like the sequel at time of typing).

The game is a really gentle slice-of-life cozy game which not only can be a really nice introduction to visual novels and dating sim or otome genres in general, but the game is incredibly customizable and thoughtful about your experiences translating in a story to make it as personalized to "you" as feasibly as it could and then some.

The game is all about your experience growing up in your different phases of your life as a resident in a Californian suburb with your next door neighbor Cove Holden, plus your older sister Elizabeth, your two moms, Pamela and Noelani, and many more characters (two of whom that, with DLC each, can be additional relationships you can expand upon besides the base game's Cove), who rotate in and out of your life during the different chapter points of your lifetime.

The game stresses heavily on you being able to take your main character (default name Jamie Last, which can be changed), and assigning them any pronouns, any skin-tone and a different variety of stylings (hair color and style, whether or not you have freckles or scars or what-have-you, etc), and you can even make changes across your lifetime that the game WILL remember and actually call back on. (For instance? If you started the game as, say, female, then you grew up later wanting to be gender-neutral, then later still deciding to be trans, the game does let you at the transition-point of a new lifetime era to make these changes, and the game does actually remember this and adjust between a character who transitioned mid-playthrough versus one who started trans from the start).

Additionally, even your relationship with Cove is highly customizeable as well (as also the case with the DLC boys in Derek and Baxter). You can have relationships with them that are romantic, or platonic, and adjust if you started off at a certain level or gradually worked up to it (love at first sight versus slow-burn realization). It's also possible to have very close friendships, be completely neutral and general with everyone, and even in affectionate-heavy relationships, you can also tell the game if you'd prefer your relationships where you have no physical touch whatsoever, or if you'd like to be asked first prior to each intimate attempt prior. The game does put weight on all manner of relationships you decide to have fairly evenly (you don't feel like you're missing out if you opt not to go romantically, is what I mean).

The other game I also wanna give honorable mention to is Sucker for Love but especially the sequel Date to Die For. It's not exactly for everyone, as by sharp contrast to the above recommendation of Our Life, Sucker for Love is a survival Horror Comedy series, where in many cases the game absolutely ramps up in horror and grotesque themes and aspects, especially in its heavily cosmic horror elements and suggestive themes.

The game usually puts you in the role of a human who wound up invoking an eldritch horror god where through some circumstance or another (first game was you trying to vy your way for a smooch, while the second one is pure survival and gradual warming-up romance), you end up performing a series of rituals and try to survive the horrors therein as a result.

In the second game, you play as Stardust, a girl who was tricked into entering the Black Woods, which completely encroached and took over her childhood home town, and because of the act of cultists, the heart of the black woods had been established at what used to be her family home she grew up in, and at it, tried to call upon the god of the eldritch god Black Goat of the Woods Rhok'zan. Fortunately, Stardust being ace prevents her from succumbing to the potency of Rhok'zan's radiant aura that amplifies the desire of anyone who enters the black woods to unbearable and extreme degrees that caused many before to either succumb to the woods, or fall in line with The Thousand, the cult exploiting Rhok'zan. Unfortunately, Stardust is tasked with performing rituals, surviving both them and interference from The Thousand, and potentially warming up to the eldritch god herself in the process.

Hey, it’s Pride Month and I want to try something.

Reblog and recommend a piece of queer media. Any medium, any genre, anything goes. If it’s queer, it belongs here.

I recommend Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (yes, the same Alison Bechdel who came up with the Bechdel Test in her comic series, Dykes to Watch Out For.) It’s a graphic novel memoir about her experiences growing up, discovering her sexuality, and her complex relationship with her father who she discovers was a closeted gay man after his death.

There’s also a musical adaptation and I can’t hear the song ‘Ring of Keys’ without crying. It’s the moment when she saw a butch woman in public for the first time as a child, and has this beautiful moment of recognition and seeing herself in a stranger. I know you.

[austajunk]

Might I be allowed to gush about something I really love about Danganronpa games? Again?

The beginnings. The prologues of each game.

They are some of my favorite parts of each game because they an INCREDIBLE job of setting the tone.

We have the first game and it’s use of an uneasy atmosphere. Makoto Naegi is a character who already feels out of place on a larger than life setting like Hope’s Peak Academy, even going so far as to look up information on the other students on chat forums to figure out what he’s in for. He’s hesitant and unnerved, but admits that what pulls him through is an unwavering sense of optimist… that he’s more gung-ho about things which foreshadows his most necessary trait that ultimate transforms him into the most faithful form of Hope. But going back to that atmosphere, everything else is dripping in uneasiness. The purple, isolated halls of a big, but condensed school. Then meeting 14 other students who are VERY unusual. There isn’t anyone around Makoto who is as “ordinary” as him and the game immediately puts forth certain people (Byakuya, Celeste, Mondo etc) who are definitely not people to place your trust in. Then we move to Monokuma’s introduction and it’s… so good.

“To kill is to kill. I’m sure there’s a dictionary around if you need it.” Heavy and brutal themes are delivered disguised in half-comedic scenes. While Monokuma is a horrific force to be taken seriously, there’s just… this major subversion of the mystery/thriller genre.

I have a confession. I never wanted to get into DR. I knew it was gonna be a game where I’d lose a lot of characters I loved and would obsess over it… cossss that’s what I do. But when I played through the prologue at the request of my friends, something struck me. I wasn’t uneasy anymore. I was just… intrigued. The prologue stuck with me. It left me wanting to know more, to see what was going to a bunch of Ill-dates characters I just met. I knew they were going to die, but I didn’t know it was going to be this much fun.

That such a genre subversion could be so remarkably good and funny.

And it only continued in the second game with another brilliant opening. We meet Hajime Hinata, who looks very similar to Makoto… even presenting that Hope of making something of himself when before the academy of his dreams. But this game does something quite different and bold.

It tells you the major twist of the game right out in the open.

We see a Game Title Screen and an 8-bit theme plays. Hajime’s words in the prologue are distorted like a computer glitching out and a random door appears for him to take. Obviously he’s in a program or game of some sort in retrospect by the 5th/6th chapter… but that’s the game’s brilliance in that it starts throwing weird occurrence after occurrence at you to make you forget the entire beginning.

Meeting Monomi, a new cast of characters with such loud and intense personalities that it makes the first cast look relatively normal, and a fucking fake dating sim-like opening tears our attention away from EVERYTHING they told us just five minutes prior.

And it’s so, so, so good.

If I may be allowed to skip Ultra Despair Girls and put it in another post, I’d like to point out that this trend of smacking you in the face with weirdness continues in the Prologue of V3 where Kaede wakes up in a locker and she and Shuichi are chased by the Monokubs until… well they obviously gotta do a retake cos the TV show started off wrong.

We zip back and replay the beginning, something that should have stuck in our minds, but instead we’re too taken by the way Kaede takes charge, an even newer and in some cases weirder cast than the ones prior again, and the fact that we have five times the Monokuma with the Monokubs. It’s like the other DR games, but all throughout… something feels off. Insincere. A copy. All throughout playing the prologue and the beginning of the first chapter feels like speedrunning themes, tropes, and elements of the previous games.

And in a game that is revealed to be the 53rd season of a show/spectacle based on the commodification of youthful disdain, violence and death… that’s fucking brilliant.

53 seasons of doing this. Of being here before. Of twist after twist and murders to satisfy an audience of consumerism and nothing else.

The Prologues are just some of the absolute best of the writing in the Danganronpa games. Dumping you into what you think might be somewhat familiar territory, then subverting it by turning the entire genre of murder mysteries on its head and even going so far as to largely hint at the plot right to your face in the first few moments without a bit of fear for what the player would assume…

It’s bold. It’s insanely brilliant and so effective. And I love it. Please forgive my rambling, but I would play these games over and over just to return to the beginning and experience it all again.

[satorhime]

Ah, I adore Lucifer's the devil wears makeup, Asmo's catch the lost bunnies and Mammon's movie date card >w<! Also not sure what to recommend on romance games (since idk what other ones you've played besides Olympia Soiree) but I'm currently playing Cupid Parasite and it's set in the modern world (with fantasy elements) where you play as a 'matchmaker' which is probably the most romantic job there is lol

those cards are so cute, especially mammon’s movie date one! 🥹💕

*deep breath* as for romance games, i have tried or played so many of them. it’s a niche genre of games unless you play otome and i’m obsessed with romance systems in games that aren’t exactly romance, especially triple A titles. i’m picky about the ones i play too and i always end up disappointed because they’re not like my favorites. so you already know i’ve played olympia soiree and obey me. i also have cupid parasite but i didn’t enjoy the writing so i dropped it. i’ve played the dragon age series, mass effect series, baldur’s gate series, divinity original sin 2, fire emblem series, rune factory series, stardew valley, my time at portia, skyrim (with romance mods bc ew otherwise), fallout 4 (with mods also bethesda sucks) the witcher (bleh), assassin’s creed odyssey (they lured me in with romance and it was so bad), dream daddy, haven, oathbreaker series (it’s an indie game), wayhaven chronicles , ssw, (interactive fiction). i also have played a lot of otome from itchio. i feel like that’s the best place to find them because i hate dropping $50 on a dating sim for switch that i end up hating.

[passionesolja]

Nah like this is a really good point. I’ll be honest, when Baldur’s Gate 3 first dropped and was fully released, I thought it had a very unique and mature story for its genre and setting. Not in a “sex and violence” kind of way, but in a “covering themes that we don’t see in other games like it” kind of way. It’s why I was willing to look past some glaring flaws. Compared to its peers, it was heavier on the romance than a game like Pathfinder: Kingmaker, but it wasn’t like it took away from the game.

But as time is progressing, and as this game is becoming more and more of a caricature of itself, and certain themes are being undercut for more fanservice, I just have problem with it. Like the Epilogue was fine, but adding in BG3 Twitter jokes like “god’s favorite princess” is such a goofy thing to do. It’s so unserious. It’s not just the new focus on dating sim elements that I’m not a fan of, it’s that the game is becoming Fanon of itself with every patch.

Larian interacting with fans is a double edged sword, it’s nice that they listen but it also means that they get high on their own supply. Dawg, I know, a lot of mfs play this game because they’re thirsty for Astarion but given the direction they went with him, is all this shit really good? I know that racism is a contributing factor as to why Wyll is consistently sidelined by the fandom, but don’t they have an obligation to flesh out his story line? I know that Lae’zel has a high approval rating, but did she really need to made nicer?

The thing that’s causing BG3 to rot from the inside out is Larian’s inclination for listening to the fandom. Again, I get it. Like this is a dream for a lot of game devs, cRPGs don’t get fandoms like BG3 that often. But they’re undermining themselves here. And if they keep doing this, BG3 will be such a fanon mess that in a few years, it won’t be looked at fondly.

Larian seems to forget that bg3 isn't a Dating Sim. The companions are no doubt the most interesting part of the game and offer the most amount of impactful different choices but with every update the gap between a romanced and not romanced companion in terms of content becomes wider.

And making the game into a dating sim takes away from the themes of the game. Turning the companions into just love interests takes away from them and their stories, for some of them being downright insensitive towards their stories (Astarion & Halsin both being sa victims and also the sex sells of the game?? Consent from Gale in the brothel being easily disregarded for the sake of fanservice?? Being able to fuck Wylls abuser??? The list goes on...)

I'm gonna say it now and I'll probably say it again, this is another symptom of Larian not keeping a healthy distance to fans. Listening to fans should mean fixing bugs, not rewriting the story or characters or the theme of the game. Not to mention that listening to fans about companions will always lead to favoritism for all the wrong reasons.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Belated Spring 2020 Anime Overview: My Next Life as Villainess

For the Spring 2020 anime season, I mostly watched continuations of shows I was already into. The one new show I did pick up was My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! follows Katerina Claes, a spoiled young noble girl deviously scheming to win the heart of a prince- oh wait, never mind, she hit her head and remembered her past life! Turns out she’s an eighteen year old Japanese otaku chick who died and got reincarnated as the villainess in her favorite otome game. 

If you don’t feel like reading the wiki article, an otome game is basically a female- targeted dating sim where you play as a blank slate main character and date a bunch of pretty boys (and sometimes girls, but usually only if you go outside the mainstream ones), unlocking their backstories and collecting all the romantic endings.

Having played this game, Katarina is well aware that the Villainess character- who constantly tries to interfere with the game’s heroine and whichever boy she’s pursuing- is either exiled or killed in all of the games endings. And now she IS that villainess, living in the world of the game and all its characters! Does that mean she’s doomed to a horrible fate? What’s a girl to do?

Well, if you’re Katarina, what you do is be supportive and kind to the people around you and in doing so accidentally get every single character in the game to fall in love with you. And yes, this includes all the boys the heroine is supposed to date, the other female romantic rivals the heroine is faced with and the game’s heroine herself.

That’s right, we finally got us some bisexual romantic comedy hijinx last anime season, my friends! My Next Life as a Villainess was the delightful little show I really escaped into during these anxious pandemic times . All these girls casually falling in love with Katarina without it being treated as ‘weird’ was what particularly drew me to this show and warmed my gay little heart to see. It was honestly the perfect fluffy, low stress watch during these high stress times.

Anime has long been oversaturated with ‘harem’ stories- where a usually unwitting protagonist somehow gets a bevy of beauties in love with them- but it’s still unfortunately really unusual to see bisexual harems, especially ones with a girl at the center, so right away there’s a big draw to this story that helps it stick out from the rest.  (And worry not, the story is largely focused on Katarina having fun with these pals-who-are-not-so-secretly-in-love-with-her, rather than having a ton the dubious shenanigans you see in more sexually charged tales.)

Harem protoganists also famously tend to have the personality of potatoes, being so painfully bland it’s unclear why so many people would fall in love with them in the first place. But that definitely not the case for Katarina. She’s brash, ridiculous, kind and INCREDIBLY dense, and that for a pretty dynamic combination in this setting! She does genuinely come off as a fun person to be around. Unlike a lot of modern isekai shows, she doesn’t stumble into having incredible magic powers or skills, so her compassion is genuinely her greatest strength and what saves the day and wins hearts time and time again.

Katarina’s five brain cells doing their weekly check-in

(The moment she won my heart was when she responded to a tragic Frozen style situation with her friend locking himself away from people because he believed his magic was dangerous by taking an axe to his door. My kinda girl!)

The premise also allows for some plausible built-in reasons for the characters to take such special notice of Katarina- having been raised in a different world, she isn’t beholden to all the social rules, class divisions and noble family drama all the other kids in this very specific midevial-esque fantasy world are so embroiled in. This combined with her naturally earnest, accepting and straightfoward nature means she’s able to cross boundaries and reach out to them in a way they aren’t accustomed to. She was significant in each character’s life because she genuinely was the first to show them acceptance and affection without pretense, if only because she isn’t even aware there was supposed to be a pretense.

Katarina’s focus on trying not to die and her fear she’s going to meet the same fate as the villainess in the game also at least gives some kind of a basis to her comical obliviousness to everyone being in love with her. She assumes that everyone has to be into Maria (the heroine) and terrified of her because that’s how the game GOES okay, that’s CANON! Of course, this logic stretches thin as time goes on and it would be abundantly clear to most people that things have diverged greatly from the game’s storyline, but the show makes it clear that Katarina’s determined, one track mind is as much a gift as a curse. 

Her bullheadedness when it comes to picking up how everyone REALLY feels about her is an intentional gag on the show’s part and even her love interests are well aware of what a colossal dumbass she is and not afraid to point it out!

My Next Life as a Villainess isn’t without its flaws, and the personalities/backstories of some of the ‘love interests’ Katarina gathers may be a stumbling block on some- mostly the male ones.  Geordo, “the black hearted prince” has a bit of the “ possessive shoujo bad boy” archetype about him, and though he’s far from the worst that genre of love interest has to offer (there’s not much bad he can get up to due to Katarina’s obliviousness, the lighthearted nature of the show, and his rivals constantly getting in his way), the way he refuses to break Katarina and his engagement off despite her repeatedly asking him to, as well as some of his lines here and there, are definitely NOT cute. 

Keith is Katarina’s adopted brother, but clearly has a thing for her too. On one hand, they only first met when they were nine and he fell for her pretty immediately. On the other hand, he still refers to her as “sister” constantly which is kinda eesh. 

The other two guys are all right- Nicol’s big thing is he’s inexpressive and doesn’t talk much which, considering show doesn’t spend much time inside his head, doesn’t make him a very interesting character in the ensemble (maybe he comes across better in the novels) but there’s nothing wrong with him. Alan is undoubtedly the Best Boy in my book. He’s another common trope- rambunctious and competitive with Katarina but clearly soft for her- but he’s done well and they have a lot of cute moments together.

I find the girl love interests to be a much more interesting group overall, though this may be my obvious bias talking. Sophia has the strongest connection to Katarina, their backstories being intertwined in a surprising and touching way (I’m told in the novels her affection for Katarina was treated as more platonic, but the anime definitely plays it up as having romantic elements). Maria’s original role as the game’s heroine puts her in the most interesting position (and would make her the most narratively satisfying choice of love interest, if the show was actually interested in choosing). And while Mary is comically tenacious in her pursuit of Katarina, she’s doesn’t ever act ‘sinister’ or overstep boundaries in the way Geordo does, her “scheming” only really amounting to straightforwardly asking if Katarina wants to ditch her fiance and run away with her. 

As I mentioned, one thing that really contributes to My Next Life as a Villainess being a relaxing watch is that the queer characters are treated with casual acceptance. Mary in particular isn’t subtle about her crush on Katarina, but nobody bats an eye at her and she’s completely open and comfortable with herself too. The observing maid notes that the girls are in love with Katarina with the same bland affect as when she notes she notes the guys are. And while the social practices of the nobles are pretty heteronormative- girls are always engaged in arranged marriages to guys, the guys are expected to dance with the girls (something Mary complains about!)- there’s apparently a booming queer romance novel industry that inspires our young wlw.

Katarina, having grown up in a different world, seems to be the one most prone to heteronormativity of her group. She never really considers  that a girl would ever fall in love with her, but is also never hostile to the idea. It’s telling that when Mary very clearly indicates her desired romantic partner would be a girl, Katarina’s the only one that gets tripped up and has to walk back her assumption that Mary would be talking about a guy. 

Mary LAYING DOWN THE LAW

Also, Katarina has  SEVERAL “she’s so cute! My heart is beating faster!” moments with the other girls, on par in frequency with her moments with the guys. This strongly hints she’s an oblivious bisexual disaster.

So, My Next Life as Villainess is a fun, frothy watch and the rare positive example of silly wish-fufillment that’s inclusive to a wlw audience. But is the actual plot good, or remotely complex? The answer to that is no, the plot is fairly predictable and one definitely shouldn’t got into this story expecting a deep examination of the nature of fate or anything like that.There’s no real explanation of big reason as to why why Katarina was reborn into this game world and so on.

 The antagonist that does eventually emerge plays off otome game tropes a bit, but ultimately isn’t that interesting or built up all that well. . The attempts at drama the show makes towards the end fall a little flat, especially since it tends to rely on very-late-in-the-game-exposition-dumps (dark magic isn’t even MENTIONED as existing in this world until like, the second to last episode where it becomes relevant and we get a vague infodump explaining its mechanics). The conflict honestly almost feels shoehorned in and the climax is pretty standard and doesn’t really utilize the big cast of characters all that well

But in the end, that’s okay! The show makes it abundantly clear from the beginning it’s not here to be Deep, but to be some silly fun. And it really fulfills that purpose well, from it’s catchy, peppy theme tune to its consistently warm tone. It MAY get repetitive at times for some, and I do have some quibbles- like how I found the childhood segments to be some of the shows best material and wish we could have stayed in that section for a bit instead of rushing through it, how I wish Katarina had kept her cute little scar, etc- but overall, it was definitely the soothing balm I needed during a very rough time and I absolutely recommend it if you’re looking for a chill, feel-good watch.

 And hey, a second season’s supposed to be on the way too, so there’s something to potentially look forward to!